Star Athletes Leaving College Early Is Just Fine

The NFL draft has just past, and the NBA Draft deadline is approaching. Around this time of year, we typically see a deluge of think-pieces bemoaning the fact that superstar college football and basketball players decide to declare for the draft and leave school early. Hundreds of thousands of people feel the need and desire to let extremely gifted individuals know exactly what they think they should do with their talent.

The traditional narrative goes something like this: College athletes should complete four years of college even if they have a viable opportunity to make a living at the next level.

There are several problems with this school of thought:

1. The goal of college is to find a career.

The reason you go to college is to get the skills and knowledge you need in order to obtain a decent paying job and become a productive member of society.

If you are going to school to be a broadcast journalist, and CNN offers you a full time anchor position starting at 7.5 million a year, will you feel the need to finish your final three years of eligibility at the school newspaper?

While it is probably easier to finish as a scholarship athlete, going pro certainly does not prelude finishing a college degree.

3. People with opinions often have ulterior motives.

You often hear stories about “evil” agents convincing college freshmen to leave school early because they want the commission and fees from their clients. However, we often don’t talk about the motives of boosters and colleges trying to convince them to stay for the very same reason.

You don’t get paid playing college sports and not every player is in a position to be able to decline millions of dollars year after year. Many college athletes come from upper or middle-class backgrounds which enable them to stay in school without worrying about caring for others financially. Some college athletes come from impoverished backgrounds and feel they have a responsibility to take care of their families as soon as possible.

If your single working-class mother had sacrificed everything for your pipe dream of playing in the NBA, wouldn’t you get her out of poverty as soon as possible? Would you unnecessarily risk career ending injury playing for free? For most people, the answer is no.

There is not really a right or wrong answer about leaving school early for the pros, but it might the right decision for some people and it should not be universally condemned as a poor decision simply because you think it is in the best interest of the players to finish their degree.